10 BEES. 



provisioned. Everything* lias to be newly made : a giant 

 task, but nobody understands better than bees the ^* philo- 

 sophy of labour/' and, as Gay sings — 



" In the little bulk, a mighty soul appears." 



So while some g-o off to the fields to perform the labour 

 allotted to them there, let us see what the others are doing* 

 in the hive. Some are clustering about the top ; and now 

 they fix themselves to the roof by the fore-legs, while the 

 hinder-legs hang down. Upon these other bees suspend 

 themselves, and leave their legs similarly to the disposal of 

 the new-comer, and thus a ladder is rapidly formed, reaching 

 at last to the very bottom of the hive. To facihtate opera- 

 tions, and perhaps strengthen as well as elaborate their scaf- 

 folding, they also hang themselves in festoons, each end 

 attached to the roof; and before the actual commencement 

 of labours, there is a series of such festoons formed, so that 

 the bee- workmen may ascend and descend in every direction. 

 The entire weight of this living staircase is borne by the in- 

 dividual bees at the top, and cheerfully borne too. Sydserff 

 (reprinted in Cotton) says they will suffer their legs to be 

 disjointed before they will let go their hold. Such is the 

 patriotism of the hive. 



And now the bee-architect steps forth. Great bee ! it is 

 his glorious task to shape out the design of the first combs, 

 and to lay, as it were, the first stone of the structure ; tasks 

 always performed by a single bee. The wax is secreted in 

 the bodies of the bees, and appears imder eight little flaps or 

 pockets, on the under side of the abdomen. If a bee is ex- 

 amined carefully, these little receptacles are generally found 

 full of wax, and when the supply is complete, the edges of 

 the wax-plate appear from under the pockets. When in this 

 state, the wax-plate is five-sided, very thin, semi-transparent, 

 and exceedingly brittle, and requires preparation by the bee 

 before it is in a fit state to build combs with. If a bee is 

 plunged into water, the scales of wax may easily be detached 

 with the point of a needle ; they will then rise to the surfaco 

 of the water, and can be examined with ease, or they may 

 be mounted as specimens to show the state of wax in its 

 first secretion. Pollen has nothing to do with wax. Bees 

 have been subjected to innumerable experiments when they 



